The origin of subcultures dates as far back as the concept of community itself.

“To be human is to be a social animal,” said James Shelley, a London resident, writer and publisher of Caesura Letters; an anthology of ideas that aims to second-guess the obvious in our lives and to capture the intrigue of critical thought. “I think they represent humans being humans, which is identifying with one another.”

“If you locked a bunch of complete strangers in a room, all kinds of things would happen. It’d create this hierarchy where some people’s influence would matter more than others. Innate inequality would establish itself. At the same time, people would figure out what other’s interests and agendas are, and that group will create a subculture,” he said.

One of the more intriguing subcultures that has emerged from our current cultural spectrum comes in the form of Bronies; a group of men who have taken a liking to the television show My Little Pony. Commonly assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “bro” and Pony, the movement actually got its name from the B forum on 4Chan.

“Bronies originated as a joke on a website. Some users were playing tricks on others, posting pictures of [My Little Pony] everywhere, then people actually started to like it,” explained Matthew Jakob, vice president of the Brony Club at Fanshawe.

Since then, the Brony movement has exploded with conventions being held in many major North American cities, and fans creating original content for themselves and their peers. “People started drawing art and [writing] stories… there was a giant creative spark because of [Bronies],” he said.

Although My Little Pony was created for a target market of young girls, Jakob said that the show’s themes are very relevant to adulthood as well.

“There are four different generations of [the show]. The first one started a long time ago, and each one had its own specific art style. Then a woman named Lauren Faust made generation four – that’s the one all the boys like because the art style is modern and the content is more mature. [Faust], I think, is a genius because she made the show oriented to anyone. It’s not as childish as the older generations.”

“In SpongeBob there are a lot of adult jokes. A lot of the themes of [My Little Pony] can be used as adults, like being tolerant of each other or not being so critical. I think that any lesson about being nice to other people can be related to anybody.”

When people question why he chooses to participate in Brony culture, he invites them to consider why they enjoy their own interests. “It’s no different than liking a sports team. You take pride in it because you follow it. People ask me why I like it, and I ask them why they like the Maple Leafs. It’s something that I take pride in because it makes me feel good. It’s my thing.”

“We’re similar people with similar interests, and we have fun together. It’s mainly a place where we feel we can speak our mind about what we want without someone looking at us funny or rolling their eyes,” Jakob said.

Subcultures provide common ground to stand upon, so people can relate to one another.

“If you fit these criteria, here’s something you can call yourself. And by nature of calling yourself that, you’re able to identify and share with others who also call themselves that,” Shelley said. “I’m able to call myself Canadian. I share this myth and narrative that allows you and I to be fellow citizens rather than completely random strangers. There’s this thing that we share.”

Although Bronies are often deemed obscure, Shelley explained how subcultures like them play a significant role in culture in the broader sense:

“Culture at large isn’t a thing without all the subcultures it’s made of, just as an ecosystem isn’t a thing aside from all the species and systems of interplay that are creating the equilibrium to facilitate the oxygen, carbon, all of the things that are needed for it to exist.” So viewing Bronies as an anomaly doesn’t give us a full understanding of their cultural significance.

“It’s like taking an animal out of the ecosystem, putting it into a lab, and thinking that we’re going to know everything there is to know about it. But there’s no way to understand what that animal is without understanding its relationship with other species, with the biodiversity of its habitat. It’s not just the recipient of the dynamics, it’s a direct contributor to them. So you can’t just say someone in Brony culture is being affected by main culture,” Shelley said.

Culture, as a whole, is comprised of all these little pieces.

“I think [subcultures] are as natural as culture itself.”

“Some people are confused about why we like it. But why does anyone like anything? Give them a question to think about and they won’t worry about it anymore,” Jakob said.

For more information or to subscribe to Caesura Letters, visit jamesshelley.net and caesuraletters.com.